Nuclear reactor (Red Alert 2)
The nuclear reactor was the solution to Soviet power consumption needs. Providing roughly 13 times the power of a Tesla reactor for less than double the cost, it's by far by the most cost effective power plant in the series. A single nuclear reactor will likely produce more power than a Soviet player would realistically need. Background Nuclear research had originally begun many years prior the war, under Stalin's Science Policy. The primary concern was to develop a nuclear weapon capable of immense destructive power. This was seen in the Dark Horseman base. Nuclear energy research facilities also started to harness atoms for energy purposes. During the Soviet Union's secret rearming program under Premier Romanov, nuclear weaponry was under development without the Allies' knowledge. After one too many nuclear tests on its guaranteed destructive power, Soviet scientists and technicians figured out that destructive power of nuclear weaponry is actually energy, and planned to use that energy to provide an ungodly amount of electricity on their forward bases. It was developed later in the war during the Soviet attack in the Black Forest, and was the main source of power for the missile facilities in Cuba and Moscow. Yuri, being a Soviet "ally", was authorized to build one of these reactors to power up his Psychic dominator on Alcatraz Island. The nuclear reactor is replaced by Super reactor due to the erasure of nuclear technology preceding the War of the Three Powers, but the design is still more or less the same, which also goes for the explosions after destruction. In-game The Soviets have solved the problem of needing additional Tesla Reactors by developing the Nuclear Reactor. This large building puts out the equivalent of many Tesla Reactors, supplying the Soviet commander with virtually all of the power he will ever need. The destruction of a Nuclear Reactor causes a large nuclear explosion, and creates fallout that will kill infantry and lightly-armoured vehicles. The building is practically a partially open reactor surrounded by three cooling towers with exposed pipes. The radiation shielding is modular and barely enough to keep a base safe from leakage. Should the reactor take damage, energy production will decrease considerably. The reactor design was authorized to be built on the Moon, with some modifications. The nuclear reactor has one drawback: if it is destroyed, the following explosion spreads radioactivity within a considerable radius and damages nearby structures, kills infantry and damages vehicles, much like a nuclear missile would. Counters Any siege unit, including Allied prism tanks, rogue V3 launchers, siege choppers and Magnetrons are a major threat to nuclear reactors, since their long range enables them to destroy the reactors far outside of the blast radius. Airstrikes are also advisable provided the target is not well guarded by air defences. Strikes from Boomers, rogue Dreadnoughts and Allied carrier attacks are also recommended if the enemy reactor is close to shore. Any other conventional attacks on the plant will cause the reactor to explode violently and take down anything close to the blast with it. Crazy Ivans can also exfiltrate the danger zone after putting their explosives in. The cleanest way to destroy a nuclear reactor is by using Chrono legionnaires, erasing it out of time without risk of detonating it. The nuclear reactor can also be captured by engineers. If multiple nuclear reactors are clumped up (i.e. placed by editing the map via FinalAlert2 map editor), its explosion can instantly incinerate any infantry and all ground vehicles regardless of their armour. Gallery Psychic_Dominator_Alcatraz.jpg|Render, at Alcatraz RA2_Nuclear Reactor alpha appearance.png|Alpha appearance Nuclear_reactor_animation_2.gif|Active animation Nuclear_reactor_animation_3.gif|Buildup animation RA2_Nuclear_Reactor_In-game.png|Nuclear Reactor in a snow theater DamagedNukeReactor.png|A damaged Nuclear Reactor RA2_Nuclear_Reactor_French_Icons.gif|Icon with French text RA2_Nuclear_Reactor_Korea_Icons.gif|Icon with Korean text RA2_Nuclear_Reactor_China_Icons.jpeg|Icon with Chinese text Category:Red Alert 2 Soviet Arsenal Category:Red Alert 2 Buildings